The following Self-Assessment of Speaking Ability is intended to guide those who have not taken a U.S. Government-sponsored speaking test.  It will produce an estimate of your speaking ability and is in no way a replacement for the existing ILR Skill Level Descriptions. Please respond “yes” or “no.”

To estimate your rating, start a Level 1 and see how many times you answered “yes.”  If you answered “yes” to each statement in the level, move on to the next level.  If you answered “no” to one or more statements, then you are not at that level.

If you answered “yes” to all the statements at a level, but at the next level you have a mixture of “yes” and “no” answers, then you may be at the plus level.  For example, if you answered “yes” to all the statements at Level 1, but have a mixture of responses at Level 2, you may be at Level 1+ in speaking, provided that you had more “yes” answers than “no” at Level 2.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF SPEAKING PROFICIENCY

Yes

No

S-1

I can tell/ask someone how to get from here to a nearby hotel, restaurant, or post office.

 

 

 

I can order a simple meal.

 

 

 

I can arrange for a hotel room or taxi ride.                                                         

 

 

 

I can buy a needed item such as bus or train ticket, groceries, or clothing.                                                                

 

 

 

I can ask and answer simple questions about date and place of birth, nationality, marital status, occupation, etc.                                                                            

 

 

 

I can make social introductions and use greeting and leave-taking expressions.                                

 

 

S-2

I can handle conversations about familiar topics in an organized way.

 

 

 

I can produce speech with some organization on familiar topics that extend beyond my daily routine.

 

 

 

I can describe my present or most recent job or activity in some detail.

 

 

 

I can give detailed information about my family, my house, and my community.                                                                                     

 

 

 

I can interview an employee, or arrange for special services (taking care of details such as salary, qualifications, hours, specific duties).                                                                      

 

 

 

I can give a brief autobiography including immediate plans and hopes.

 

 

 

I feel confident that when I talk with native speakers on topics such as those mentioned above, they understand me most of the time.

 

 

 

I can take and give simple messages over the telephone, or leave a message on voice mail.

 

 

 

I can describe in detail a person or place that is very familiar to me.

 

 

 

I can report the facts of what I have seen recently on television news or read in the newspaper.

 

 

 

I can talk about a trip or some other everyday event that happened in the recent past or that will happen soon.

 

 

S-3

I feel that I have a professional command, rather than just a practical one, of the language.

 

 

 

There are few grammatical features of the language that I try to avoid.

 

 

 

I rarely find myself unable to finish a sentence because of linguistic limitations (grammar or vocabulary).                               

 

 

 

I find it easy to follow and contribute to a conversation among native speakers.

 

 

 

I can speak to a group of educated native speakers on a professional subject and be sure I am communicating what I want to, without obviously irritating them linguistically.

 

 

 

I can, on a social occasion, defend personal opinions about social and cultural topics.

 

 

 

I can cope with difficult situations such as broken-down plumbing, an undeserved traffic ticket, or a serious social or diplomatic blunder made by a colleague or me.

 

 

 

I can use the language to speculate at length about abstract topics such as how some change in history or the course of human events would have affected my life or civilization.

 

 

 

In professional discussions, my vocabulary is extensive and precise enough to enable me to convey my exact meaning.

 

 

 

I am able to adjust my speech to suit my audience, whether I am talking to university professors, close friends, employees, or others.

 

 

S-4

I consistently use the language in a sophisticated and nuanced way to effectively communicate with great precision.

 

 

 

I practically never make a grammatical mistake.

 

 

 

I can carry out any job assignment as effectively as if in my native language.

 

 

 

I can persuade someone effectively to take a course of action in a sensitive situation such as to improve his/her health, reverse a decision or establish a policy.

 

 

 

I can prepare and give a lecture at a professional meeting about my area of specialization and debate complex aspects with others.

 

 

 

I naturally integrate appropriate cultural and historical references in my speech.

 

 

 

I can eloquently represent a point of view other than my own.

 

 

 

I can lead the direction of the discussion (friendly, controversial, collaborative).

 

 

 

 

 

 

S-5

My language proficiency is functionally equivalent to that of a highly articulate well-educated native speaker and reflects the cultural standards of a country where the language is natively spoken.

 

 

 

I can use the language with complete flexibility and intuition, so that speech on all levels is fully accepted by well-educated native speakers in all of its features, including breadth of vocabulary and idiom, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references.

 

 

 

My pronunciation is typically consistent with that of well-educated, highly articulate native speakers of a standard dialect.

 

 

 

My vocabulary is extensive and precise, allowing me to consistently convey complex ideas and details.